PHOTOS: Face-Off: Is It OK to Be Fat?

Face-Off: Is It OK to Be Fat?

Is it OK to be fat? Who gets to define what's fat? Have we become a dangerously supersized nation or is there an unhealthy obsession with being skinny? Such questions were tackled at the fifth "Nightline Face-Off." The debate was moderated by ABC News' Juju Chang Feb. 5 at the Cooper Union's historic Great Hall in New York City.

Heidi Gutman/ABC

Face-Off: Is It OK to Be Fat?

Is it OK to be fat? Who gets to define what's fat? Have we become a dangerously supersized nation or is there an unhealthy obsession with being skinny? Such questions were tackled at the fifth "Nightline Face-Off." The debate was moderated by ABC News' Juju Chang Feb. 5 at the Cooper Union's historic Great Hall in New York City.

Heidi Gutman/ABC

Face-Off: Is It OK to Be Fat?

Marianne Kirby, co-author of "Lessons From the Fat-O-Sphere," left, and Crystal Renn, model and author of "Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves," contend that you don't have to be thin to be healthy and argued against constant dieting.

Heidi Gutman/ABC

Face-Off: Is It OK to Be Fat?

Arguing against an obese America and for the importance of maintaining a responsible diet were Kim Bensen, author of "Finally Thin," left, and MeMe Roth, president of National Action Against Obesity.

Heidi Gutman/ABC

Face-Off: Is It OK to Be Fat?

ABC News' Juju Chang moderated the "Face-Off" debate. Chang had her body fat measured last month and learned that it was 37 percent, which is between normal and overweight but still putting her at risk for diseases associated with obesity.

Heidi Gutman/ABC

Face-Off: Is It OK to Be Fat?

Marianne Kirby argued that fat can be beautiful and said that preoccupation with being thin actually contributed to her weight gain. "It's kind of amazing. I'm far healthier now than I ever was when I started dieting," she said. "I think that we look at health from an incredibly narrow standpoint."

Heidi Gutman/ABC

Face-Off: Is It OK to Be Fat?

Kim Benson, who tipped the scales at 347 pounds, argued firsthand that being fat and healthy is an oxymoron. "I didn't know fullness. I didn't understand that fullness, I was so full of head hunger instead of physical hunger, that's what drove me. … I think you are what you eat," she said.

Heidi Gutman/ABC

Face-Off: Is It OK to Be Fat?

Meme Roth took a tough stance on the weight argument, saying there's no way that improper eating is beautiful or OK. "It's not OK to be fat, because of the ravages of the human body, because of the untold human suffering, and because of the immense financial burden to the rest of us," she said. Roth, who thinks kids shouldn't be allowed to eat sweets at a classroom birthday party without parental consent, said, "It sickens me in my heart when I see an obese person and when I see an obese child because I know the path they are on."

Heidi Gutman/ABC

Face-Off: Is It OK to Be Fat?

ABC News' senior health and medical editor, Dr. Richard Besser, weighed in, saying, "There's no refuting that there are major health consequences on a population basis to being obese and overweight." On the other hand, the former acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that it's also important for people to embrace their body types. He stressed the importance of health and for communities to encourage young people to lead healthy lives.